Join God's Mission

Great Opportunity

Have you ever had an opportunity to come to you that you just couldn’t pass up?

Serve as an intern rather than go directly to seminary.

Opportunity to work someplace else, not just for the money, but for the experience?

Attend a conference just because the leader is the leading expert in their field.

We all have opportunities that come our way, some not so good, but others so good that you can’t pass them up.

Continue in the series entitled “Return to Me.”

We’ve for us to stay in a healthy loving relationship with God we must:

Love God

Love others

Be Transformed by renewing your mind and being filled with the Spirit.

At the outset of the series, the purpose of the series is simply that God is on a mission to redeem a lost world.

We as a church must be in a close relationship living obediently according to His ways so that we can be revived and a revived church.

Then we can a spiritual awakening here in our community and then to the world.

God’s Invitation

The Bible reveals that God has always been involved in the world to reconcile people to Himself.

He is in the center of all that takes place.

When we read the Bible, we read how God has accomplished this divine work in our world.

We see that He always takes the initiative to involve His people in His activity.

Here’s a few example of how this works

When God wanted to save people from a severe famine, He helped the young man Joseph understand that a drought was coming.

When God wanted to save His people from a widespread massacre, He raised up a young woman, Esther, to the royal throne.

When He was preparing to send the Messiah into the world, God first commissioned John the Baptist to prepare the way.

As Jesus lay His life down for the sins of humanity, the Father prompted a businessman, Joseph of Arimathea, to make his own tomb available for Jesus' body.

Whenever God was about to accomplish a new work, He invited people to join Him in His activity.

That’s our opportunity!

To join Him in His work redeeming the world.

As an obedient child of God, our love relationship with Him and others should compel us to help redeem the lost to Christ.

How do we discover what this opportunity looks like?

Through His word - reading it.

Through Prayer

What happens when you pray?

The Holy Spirit knows what God already has waiting for you.

His task is to get you to want it—to get you to ask for it.

And what happens when you request things God already wants to give?

You will always receive it.

Why? Because you have asked according to the will of God.

Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.”

When God answers your prayer, He receives the glory, your faith is increased, and you have a fresh experience of His love

Why Should I Pray For The Lost?

First and foremost is our relationship with the Lord!

Prayer is a way for us to relate to God not just to get things we want or need.

When we pray we commune, communicate, and walk with God.

It’s all about a love relationship with God the Father through Jesus His Son.

Out of His abundant love for us, we will want to pray for our lost family, friends, and neighbors to discover what we have.

John 3:16 tells “God loves the world” and if He does we should to.

Second, we should pray because it is a biblical command.

Hear what Matthew 9:37-38 says, “Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

The Bible teaches that prayer should precede, permeate and follow all our evangelistic endeavors.

Biblically speaking, the Bible tells us we are priests in His Kingdom.

Thus believers are to fulfill the role of intercessors and mediators on behalf of others as they pray (see 1 Pet. 2:3-10; 1 Tim. 2:1-4).

1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises, of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

1 Timothy 2:1-4 says, “First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone,  for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

This command involves prayer for the lost.

Third, when we pray we should pray for the lost because of Christ’s sacrifice.

Christ came for the lost.

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).

And he died to provide a way of salvation for the whole human race.

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men” (I Timothy 2:5-6).

Fourth we should pray for the lost because of their condition.

Blind: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (II Corinthians 4:4).

Captive to Satan: We should pray that unbelievers might “escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (II Timothy 2:26).

Condemned: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18).

Dead: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).

Bound for hell: “Whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36b).

Helpless: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).

Hopeless: “Without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12).

Without Understanding: “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Corinthians 2:14).

How Do We Pray For The Lost?

Let me share with some ways to pray for the lost that I found in “Praying Your Friends to Christ” from NAMB

Pray for Christians to Speak to the Lost

Pray for Workers.

This is our most basic prayer.

Jesus said in Matthew 9:37-38, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

We should pray that God will move on the hearts of his people that they might have great compassion for those without Christ.

And we should pray that God will raise up more workers, more evangelists, more people to share Christ, and more missionaries who will take the gospel to the lost around the world.

Pray for Boldness.

Paul says this very clearly in Ephesians 6:19-20. “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

We’ve all been in potential witnessing situations where we chickened out under pressure and later regretted it.

Maybe we were intimidated or worried about what others would think or perhaps we feared making someone mad.

Maybe we were suddenly shy or felt tongue-tied.

It’s happened to all of us, which is why we need to pray for ourselves and others that we might be bold in proclaiming the gospel.

The word implies freedom of speech, that we wouldn’t be timid but that the words would flow freely as we share Christ.

Pray for Opportunities.

Sometimes we need to pray that God will create an opportunity where none exists.

Students in public schools and universities often have to listen as teachers set forth ungodly ideas.

They should pray for God to give them an “open door” to speak their faith kindly, respectfully, and yet with boldness.

“And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains” (Colossians 4:3).

This also applies to how you witness on the job and to your family and friends.

When no opportunity exists to share our faith, we must pray for God to give us a chance to speak for Christ.

Pray for Clarity.

Paul mentions this in Colossians 4:4 “Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”

Clarity means presenting the gospel in a manner that makes sense to those who hear it.

You are saying, “Lord, help me to speak your truth so that even this lost person will know what I am talking about.”

Pray For the lost that might listen - Using HEART

Receptive Hearts

Spiritual eyes might be opened

God’s attitude toward sin becomes real to them.

Released to trust Christ.

A life Transformed by the gospel.

Practical Way To Do This

Begin praying for your neighbors.

I want to introduce you to Blesseveryhome.com

It gives you the tools to become a Light for Christ in your neighborhood.

By joining you become a part of an ever-growing community of Christ followers who are devoted to being a Light in their neighborhoods through praying for, caring for, sharing the gospel with, and discipling their neighbors.

You will be provide all the tools to get to know your neighbors by name so that you can begin to build relationships with them.

Like a map of your neighborhood with the names of your neighbors.

Daily email with 5 neighbors to pray for with a suggested prayer.

Ways to keep track of your individual progress with each neighbor.

You join and then connect to our church so we all can pray for neighbors daily.

I’ll send you an email to get you started.

For those that don’t do email or have access to the internet, let me know and I can print out you a list of your neighbors.

This past March, Dr. Chuck Lawless wrote, Eleven years ago, I stood in the chapel at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY, and shared with our faculty and staff that my 71-year old father had become a believer. We had prayed for him for 36 years, and God dramatically changed him.

My mom, though, wasn’t there yet. We’ve continued to pray for her since then, and I’ve asked believers around the world to join me in that praying. Well . . . I’m rejoicing today that God has saved my mom!

So, here’s my encouragement:

Don’t give up if you’re still praying for someone you love to follow Jesus. The 36 years we prayed for my dad and the 47 years we’ve prayed for Mom are nothing on God’s timetable. His calendar is not ours, but He still saves people according to His timing.

Get others to join you in the praying. I’m convinced the combined prayers of God’s people over the years contributed to God’s saving my mom. Something just happens when God’s people pray together.

Love your non-believing friends and family members with the love of God, even when they’re not interested in the gospel. Consistent expressions of the grace of God, I trust, are one of God’s means by which He melts a hardened heart. I’m deeply grateful for those who kept loving me even when I continually rejected their message.

Watch for glimpses of God’s work in folks for whom you’re praying. Looking back, I can see where God was already working in my mom’s life; I just wasn’t always looking for it. I now don’t want to miss His hand in the lives of others on my prayer list.

Renew your hope based on stories of God’s answers to prayer. I wrote this post first to praise the Lord publicly, but also to encourage our readers to keep praying and trusting. I hope that’s a result for you.

Pray